Escape
by LittleMissTree
Summary: What if this wasn't the real world? What if the Avengers do actually exist? Emilia Barnes finds herself thrown into the world of the Avengers as they prepare for Thanos to launch his attack on Earth. After a series of adventures, humorous mishaps and blossoming relationships, she begins to question reality, and even her own sanity. (Eventual Loki/OC/Steve)
1. Chapter 1

**Hello all! It's been a long time since I wrote anything, and when I came up with the idea for this fic, I thought why not give it a go! This is basically like a pilot chapter, so if it gets a good response, I'll definitely continue!. Let me know what you think and if you want me to continue! xxx**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own any Marvel characters (unfortunately)**

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 **Chapter 1**

Useless. Absolutely useless. I slammed the textbook shut, sighing in despair as I watched my pen roll slowly off the desk and onto the carpet. Well, I thought, it was not like I was going to need it anyway. Two years in, and I still wasn't sure what had possessed me to take this stupid course. Take Business, they said. It'll change your life and earn you a shit ton of money, they said. Well a shit ton of money was right. Except it was all debt, and I hadn't earned a thing since my Saturday job in high school. I honestly couldn't think of anything more boring in my life than being here. When was something exciting going to happen?

"Em! Em, where are you?" A voice shouted from down the hallway.

Oh shit. I had completely forgotten I'd agreed to go out tonight. I rolled up my sleeve to see just how late I was. _9.30._ Ifthat was the universe answering my question, it had seriously bad timing.

"EMILIA BARNES, YOU BETTER BE REA-"

I opened the door to my room before my annoying little friend could finish her sentence, and watched as her eyes slowly looked me up and down, returning to rest upon my sheepish face with a scowl.

"I cannot believe you."

I threw my hands up in apology. "I'm sorry! I didn't realise the time, and I was trying to finish my notes and-"

Lucy threw up a finger and waved it at me in disapproval. "I said I'd be round at 9.30 ten times. I even texted and called and everything."

Lucy was my best, and most irritating friend here at college. We took a few classes together at the start of our first year, but didn't get to know each other until I found her swaying side to side in a 24-hour pizza place after one of the biggest nights out of the year. Of course, I wouldn't exactly say I was sober, but at least I wasn't singing the alphabet song backwards.. in Spanish. Or attempting to, anyway. Since then, I hadn't been able to get rid of her, which meant she managed to rope me into every activity whatsoever that involved alcohol, inevitably leading to us falling both up and down the stairs because we were both My parents had even started to question why I'd come home at the holidays with multiple bruises over my body, so I had to think of the least dodgy explanation ever. Thus, my parents now think I'm the newest member of the karate club. To be fair, I never said I was particularly inventive. They were only slightly suspicious because we were all sitting on the sofas watching Karate Kid at the time, but I managed to get away with it.

"Maybe instead of standing here arguing about why I'm the most pathetic excuse for a college kid, I should actually start getting ready," I responded defensively, crossing my arms and raising an eyebrow at my little friend.

Lucy paused for a moment, but then nodded her head, hands going straight to my shoulders. She steered me to my bed and forced me to sit down, commanding me to fix my face as she moved to my wardrobe and began taking out any suitable clothing she could find in there for a night out. She turned round to give me a dirty look after seeing the massive pile of clothes at the base of the wardrobe.

"How am I ever managed to find anything in here?"

"Work your magic, Luce," I told her, reaching over to grab my makeup bag to start the process of making my face presentable.

"Not that, or that…oh my, definitely not that…a-ha!"

Lucy pulled out a black halter-neck bodysuit and threw it at me, just missing my newly made up face. I picked the scrunched up cloth off the floor and proceeded to take off my sweats. After a few tugs, the fabric was firmly in place, reminding me I should probably use the gym membership I'd bought months ago before I needed to go up a dress size. I fixed the outfit with a pair of black jeans, and after a quick brush of my hair, I was ready to go.

"How do I look?" I asked, giving my friend a twirl.

Lucy smiled, "Perfect! Now let's go because there's a few people I want you to meet."

"Please, for the love of all that is holy, do not set me up with any boys."

"Now that's a promise you know I can't make."

Lucy took me by the hand and dragged me out the house, only letting go to let me grab a jacket and lock the door. I had to argue with her that I didn't want to be hypothermic and burgled in the same night, or at all, preferably. It was colder than I thought, and I instantly regretted agreeing to come out on what must have been one of the coldest nights of the year so far. We wandered down the street to the first bar of the night, making small talk as we walked, which consisted mainly of me persuading her that if she absolutely had to set me up with a guy, he couldn't be a weirdo like the last few. I shuddered at the thought of the last one, who insisted on feeling me up the entire night, even following me to the bathroom when I lied about needing to throw up. At first, I was drunk enough to think it was just a bit of fun, but eventually I realised how creepy he actually was and quickly exited the club.

The first bar was dimly lit, with huddles of comfy chairs dotted across the room. It was still quite early for many students, so the bar wasn't too busy, and along with the soft music in the background, the place felt fairly laidback.

"This is just a starting point, so we'll have a few drinks here whilst we wait for the others, then move onto somewhere that's buzzing, okay?" Lucy explained.

"Sure, let's get this night going," I replied, moving over to the barman with her to get our first round of drinks.

Several gin and tonics later, Lucy's friends joined us at our table. Luckily, I was starting to feel a bit tipsy, so I wasn't as intimidated when two of the prettiest girls I had seen sat down, along with three tall boys. At least two of them were my type; tall, dark and handsome, and I silently congratulated Lucy for finally having good taste.

"This is Emilia," Lucy waved a hand at me, "Emilia, this is Ri, Liv, Simon, David and Alex," she pointed to each person in time.

We all smiled and greeted each other, settling into conversation as a group. After a few more drinks, I'd already forgotten their names, but it had got to that awkward stage where I wasn't sure I could ask them again. Eventually we moved onto the next bar, which was a lot more crowded and too noisy to have any sort of conversation. After several spilled drinks and arguments erupting over who's turn it was next in the queue, I made the executive decision that we leave and just go to the club.

"This is the BEST. NIGHT. EVER!" Lucy screamed at the top of her voice, taking me and one of the other boys by the hand and leading us onto the dance floor.

It was hot and sweaty, but for once, I didn't care. I was loving every minute of it. The alcohol had firmly hit my system, making the world spin just a bit, but not enough so that I ended up plummeting face first onto the floor. The boy that had been dragged along with us wrapped his arms around me, and I leant into his embrace, happy to just dance the night away.

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"Is she alive?"

"Maybe she's dead."

"Oh yeah, real optimistic, Tony."

My eyes shot open at the sound of their familiar voices, but I quickly shut them again as the bright surroundings stung them. After a few prods in my side, from what seemed to be a hard, metal instrument, I let my eyes flutter open to find myself lying in a vast desert. The hot sun was beating uncomfortably onto my skin, and I could feel it starting to burn. I knew I needed to find shelter as soon as possible. My eyes wandered over to my left, where I noticed many pairs of feet. One pair appeared to be made of a reddish metal, which at first, I put down to my severely hungover brain. I looked up to see who they belonged to, and my mouth dropped.

"Oh shit."


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you to everyone who favourited/followed/reviewed! It put a smile on my face and encouraged me to write the next chapter! I hope you enjoy this one and don't worry, the chapters will get longer once I finish setting the scene x x x**

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 **Chapter 2**

"Oh no. No, no, no," I muttered to myself, shaking my head from side to side, which sent a shooting pain through my brain.

I gasped, clutching at my head. After what seemed like hours, I remembered that I wasn't alone. I looked up and saw three faces staring confusedly at me. I blinked several times, and then let my head fall down to look at my hands. They were covered in cuts and caked with dried blood and dirt from where I must have fallen over. _How much had I drunk last night?_ I mean, I know had a lot, but surely not enough for me to end up in the middle of a desert and lying several feet from people who I thought were fictional. No, who I _knew_ were fictional. This was definitely a hungover dream. That, or I was dead.

"Hello? Anybody home?"

My head shot up, sending this strange world spinning and making me wish this nightmare was over already. After what seemed like a lifetime, my vision cleared, revealing a man's face inside a metal helmet barely an inch from mine. I jolted backwards, almost smacking my head back on the ground.

"Woah, sweet cheeks, mind you don't hit that pretty head of yours," Tony Stark's sultry voice sounded out. _Ugh_. Did I really just say sultry? He was, like, thirty years older than me or something.

"So, who are you?"

"Uh…" I started, not really sure how to end the sentence.

I saw Tony glance over to his fellow Avengers, giving them a puzzled look as he brought his finger up to his ear and performed a spiral motion with it. Great. The infamous, and need I remind myself, fictional, Tony Stark thought I was crazy. The billionaire turned his attention back towards me, dropping his puzzled look and smiling sheepishly as he saw my raised eyebrow and disapproving look. Before Tony could say another word, which probably would've been rude, he was shoved to the side by a tall, blond man painted head to toe in the American flag. Ah. So it was Captain America's turn to interrogate me.

"Ignore him, we all do," the Captain said to me, extending his large hand to help me up from the ground.

I took his hand willingly, proceeding to brush off any dirt from my jeans so I at least looked somewhat presentable in front of world famous superheroes. Em, what are you even saying? I thought to myself. This wasn't even real...but then again at least I cared about looking good in my dreams too. I didn't even want to think about how awful my face must have looked in contrast however.

"Thanks," I muttered to Captain America, who gave me a curt smile in response.

"Do you ever get tired of being so noble, Cap?"

"Maybe you should try it sometime, Stark. It'll do you so much good."

Tony turned towards the Captain, resting a hand on his shoulder and earning an annoyed look in response. "I like myself just the way I am, but your concern is touching."

"I don't mean to interrupt your lover's quarrel, but shouldn't we be asking her what she's doing in the middle of the desert, surrounded by a massive energy field?"

The voice came from a slim, leather-clad woman with platinum blonde hair tucked behind her ears. Strange. I could swear that Natasha Romanoff had red hair in the movies. Either way, I agreed with what she was saying.

"I think that would be a great idea," I responded, startling the superheroes, who had probably thought I had some sort of problem and couldn't actually speak properly.

"Woah, she speaks," Tony help up his metal hands in feign surprise.

"Yes, _she_ does. Now, does anyone know how to wake me up from this strange dream?" I folded my arms across my chest.

"Aaaaaand we're back to being weird."

"Stark!" Natasha and the Cap groaned in unison.

"Sorry, sorry. What do you mean, dream?"

"Ya know, that strange story playing out in your head whilst you sleep? Or in my case, in an extremely hungover state," I explained sarcastically, which, unsurprisingly, did not go over Tony's head.

"Ha ha, we have a funny one. But seriously, kid, what are you doing here and why did we pick up an insane energy surge from this exact location?"

"Hey, you know as much as I do! One moment I was dancing in a club with my friends, and the next I woke up in this dirty ditch surrounded by the goddamn Avengers. As far as I'm concerned, this is some twisted dream as a result of a very heavy night," I retorted, running my hands through my now extremely knotty and dry hair.

Three confused faces stared back at me.

"That was the worst explanation I've ever heard, and I've been doing this a long time," Natasha replied after an awkward silence.

"At least she knows who we are."

"Not helpful, Tony. For all we know, she could be another one of _them_."

I blinked at Natasha. "Them? Who is 'them'?"

"Another alien that's supposedly fallen from the sky, and most likely, one who's intent on destroying us before Thanos takes over the Earth."

"Yeah, I'm not an alien. I'm pretty sure I'm from New York."

"Then what are you doing here?"

I sighed. "I just told you. I don't even know how I managed to get here."

"Nat, either she's telling the truth or she's lying and we'll find out sooner or later," Captain America interjected, putting an arm between Romanoff and myself to relieve the building tension between us.

Natasha Romanoff thought for a moment, before looking me over and finally nodding. "Fine, we'll take her back with us."

I did a double take. No, I told my brain, this is not how I wanted this dream to go. I would much rather wake up and go back to my real life. Tony Stark clapped his hands together, accompanied by the distinctive sound of metal clashing. He walked over to my side, wrapping his metal arm around my waist.

"Fancy a lift, kid?" Tony offered, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Stark, that is not appropriate," Captain America said disapprovingly, gesturing to the close proximity of Tony's hand to my bottom, even if it was covered in his Iron Man suit. "We'll take you in the quinjet," he said, reaching out his hand once again to me, which I took gladly.

I glanced behind his tall figure, noticing the large, futuristic-looking but impressive jet for the first time since I woke up. At least my mind had seen the Avenger's movies enough times to remember what the name of the jet was and what it looked like. I almost felt proud in that moment that my memory wasn't completely shit.

"Thanks once again, Captain."

"Call me Steve, ma'am," he smiled at me, and I felt myself blush a little bit.

"Hey, how come he can charm you and I can't?" Tony sulked, to which I replied with a shrug, before powering up his suit and launching into the clear blue sky.

Steve led me to the quinjet, giving me a reassuring smile that actually made me feel a little weak at the knees. Dream-state Emilia was apparently very much into tall blonds, and hey, I wasn't gonna protest to the hand holding. Suddenly, I was very much aware of a pair of eyes boring into my back. I chanced a look behind me, my eyes meeting with the steely face of Natasha Romanoff. I swallowed, an uneasy feeling rising in my stomach, before sharply turning my head back round. By the time we reached the jet, the uneasy feeling had grown into nausea, and I felt my stomach growl unhappily. Damn, it had been hours since I'd last eaten, and if I didn't have anything soon, I was definitely going to collapse, especially since I had no idea how long I'd been in the middle of a desert. At the thought of that, I realised how dry my mouth was. Forget hunger, I would probably die of dehydration soon enough. The uncomfortable hunger and dehydration distracted me from the realisation that, if this was a dream, why did it feel so real? There could be a chance that I'd been given something, or that someone had spiked my drink. This new idea was enough to send shivers down my spine.

"Strap in," I heard the Cap say, bringing me out of my deep thoughts and back into the present moment, where I hadn't even realised I had made it into the jet and was now sitting down on a bench.

I nodded, reaching above my left shoulder and bringing the belt across my body. There was a rumbling vibration throughout the jet as the engines kicked into action, allowing us to gently rise up into the air. I slumped in my seat, letting the dizziness and fatigue overtake my mind and body as my head flopped to the side. Whatever was going on here, and wherever I was being taken, I had the awful feeling that I wasn't going to wake up anytime soon.


End file.
